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6 months into state control, how has Detroit's Belle Isle Park changed?

John Gallagher, DetroitFreePress
12:09 p.m. EDT August 11, 2014

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Law enforcement

Michigan State Police reports it has taken the following enforcement actions on Belle Isle through late July since it started patrolling the island in February: Traffic stops: 1,191 Citations: 108 Verbal warnings: 1,103 Felony arrests:19 Fugitives arrested: 80 Weapons arrests: 8

Belle Isle improvements

Here are some of the more visible improvements that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports making on Belle Isle since the DNR started managing the island as a state park on Feb. 10: ■ 12 of 17 public rest rooms renovated and reopened. ■ Scott Fountain repaired and operating 12 hours a day. ■ More than 50 trash barrels removed from the island’s canals. ■ Repairs made to the Conservatory, Casino, Welcome Center (the former police station), and the White House (administration building). ■ More than 200 hazardous trees removed.

The Recreation Passport

There is no charge to walk or bicycle onto Belle Isle. Visitors will need a state Recreation Passport to drive a motor vehicle onto Belle Isle beginning this year. All vehicles entering the park must have a Recreation Passport by February 2015. Recreation Passports can be purchased for $11 at any Secretary of State branch office, or when renewing vehicle registration by mail. They also can be purchased at state parks and recreation areas.

Sunday marked six months since the Michigan Department of Natural Resources took over control of Detroit’s Belle Isle Park in one of the state’s more controversial moves of recent years.

Since then, the DNR has moved aggressively to quell complaints about the takeover and to keep its promise to improve the island park. It has removed about 200 hazardous trees, reopened most of the rest rooms that the City of Detroit had locked for lack of maintenance money, got the classic Scott Fountain operating again 12 hours a day all summer. And, most controversially, Michigan State Police cracked down on speeders and other violators.

As a result of state control, Belle Isle has been cleaner, less rowdy, and probably safer this summer than at any time in years. It also has seen less usage, although hard numbers are unavailable because the city previously never made anything more than vague estimates of the number of visitors. But Michele Hodges, president of the nonprofit Belle Isle Conservatory, which raises money for park projects, says attendance clearly is down from previous years when the park could be jammed on summer days.

If the grade on state control remains incomplete after just six months, Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for the state DNR, said it has been a good start on keeping the state’s promises.

“There’s been a lot of things accomplished. There’s a lot more to do,” he said last week. “This is the beginning, not the end. I think we’ve improved a lot. Whether we made some mistakes or people think we have, we’re trying to address the process as best we can.”

Belle Isle Park became Michigan’s 102nd state park Feb. 10 as part of the state relieving the city of the expense of maintaining the park as it goes through Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The city still owns the park but is leasing it for 30 years to the state, which says it will make major improvements and save the city $4 million to $6 million a year in maintenance and policing costs.

Hodges attributes the drop in usage to two issues: Confusion over a state park use fee that many visitors didn’t know how to pay, and controversy over state police enforcement of speed limits on the island and other regulations. State police have made more than 1,000 traffic stops since the DNR took control, ensnaring even Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey for speeding. City Council President Brenda Jones called the stepped-up enforcement a “disgrace.”

Controversy flared again in April when the Michigan Department of Transportation said the island would be closed to the public for several days in September to accommodate test-drives undertaken as part of the Intelligent Transport Systems 21st World Congress. The state quickly backed off in the face of criticism, agreeing that the public would still be allowed on the island during the ITS conference.

The perception that fewer people are visiting Belle Isle is a concern, Hodges said.

“Certainly it’s an alert for me,” Hodges said. “It says we have some work to do to make sure that this doesn’t go on long term, and that within the next cycle we’re back to where it should be both from a numbers standpoint as well as a diversity standpoint because this can’t be just a white island.”

The state’s takeover began in controversy Feb. 10 as Michigan State Police began enforcing speed limits on the island and the 10 p.m. closing time. When the state took over, average driving speeds on the island were higher than 40 m.p.h., Olson said, well above the 25-m.p.h. limit now in place.

Since the Michigan State Police started enforcing the law on Belle Isle, troopers have made 1,191 traffic stops, given 108 citations and 1,103 verbal warnings, made 19 felony arrests, nabbed 80 fugitives, and made eight weapons arrests, state records show.

The enforcement produced a more family-style atmosphere on the island, with fewer speeders and less rowdiness. Parking is easier to find. Traffic snarls, like the bumper-to-bumper jams of previous years, have mostly disappeared.

“I think that’s smoothed out now,” Olson said of complaints over enforcement. “A tremendous number of people appreciate the fact that they know that there is presence of law enforcement.”

Echoing that, last week Dawn Jessen of Harrison Township said she likes the more family atmosphere at the island now.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said while visiting the Scott Fountain for a family picnic. “We come down here a lot now and before we never did. It’s beautiful. You can walk around, you feel safe, it’s nice to see the police presence around. I like it.”

Some also question the slowly expanding footprint of the Detroit Grand Prix auto race, which takes place on the island one weekend a year.

The Grand Prix crews start setting up road barricades and grandstand seating at least a month before the race and take weeks afterward to return the island to normal. This year, the Grand Prix paved a new walkway across one grassy area, and the cell phone tower set up for the race weekend has been left in place to accommodate the ITS conference this fall.